From a Black Sky

David Rogers-Smith (David), Don Bemrose (Tony), Judith Dodsworth (Sophie), Rachael Duncan (Amelia)

From a Black Sky composed by Sandra France, with libretto by Helen Nourse.  The Street Theatre Made in Canberra program in Street One, September 20-22, 2013.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
September 20

I’m not averse to a fictional story about a predatory lesbian who succeeds in making the husband of the woman she loves in effect commit suicide, by staying ostensibly to save his burning house.  It was rather odd that Sophie, the pred les (played by Judith Dodsworth), had a husband Tony (Don Bemrose), who apparently remained completely unaware of his wife’s shenanigans with Amelia (Rachael Duncan) and saw his mate David (David Rogers-Smith) as a shining hero for being man enough to stay – despite the fact that it was obvious that they should all have gone and left their houses to the fates.

I’m not averse either to modern art-form opera music and song, composed by Sandra France, especially when performed so well by this 11-piece ensemble conducted by David Kram.

But I do find it difficult, remembering my family’s fears and last-minute efforts to prepare the house on Saturday 18 January 2003, to work out why this fictional story was connected to that particular real firestorm, using recordings from radio broadcasts which people, now ten years later, will surely remember, and which makes this show specific to Canberra.

Yes, this story is a tragedy of misconceived relationships, and maybe things like this were happening on that eventful day, but to use that firestorm merely as a background setting is to set aside the depth of feeling attached to the unforeseen destruction of 500 homes and the deaths of four people in horrific circumstances.  I remember these feelings as we were on alert to stay or go for a full two weeks after the 18th.  If there is any day in my life when I remember where I was and what I was doing, it is that day.

That all said, let’s consider the opera and the performances as a theatrical production. 

Opera means a lot of singing, but only David Rogers-Smith had the voice and the diction to carry his words over the orchestra.  The words of the other three main characters and of the chorus were rarely understandable.  I had thought perhaps my ancient ears were at fault, but unsolicited comments from other and much younger audience members confirmed my experience.  The acoustics of Street One might not be the best, and the placement of the orchestra in the centre of the stage with singers mostly behind or off to the side, probably didn’t help.

But the storyline of this new work needed the diction to be clear.  I relied on the program notes to get me through.  Subtitles or supertitles might be acceptable for foreign language operas, but surely not for one sung in ordinary plain suburban English.

The beginning and ending, using young children, was an embarrassment.  I don’t mean the children were, but the idea of a happy sort-of 19th Century opera marketplace scene to open the show just doesn’t match the Canberra shopping centres we know and love.  And the ending, so the program states, is about how “Children, teenagers, community, Tony, Sophie and Amelia all look at what their futures will hold and the memories and regrets they will forever carry”.  I saw what looked and felt like a reprise of the happy, but now just a little bit more sort-of, opening scene.  What firestorm ... what death of David?

In fact the only scene in the production which had real theatrical effect was the final solo appearance by David and his demise in the fire, with clever lighting and use of the backstage roller door.  This was genuinely dramatic, allowing us to feel at last some empathy with a thoroughly negative character who seemed to have little drive to face up to difficulties, such as having been recently retrenched.

The two women’s powerful singing did make something of their final scene together, climaxing with Amelia’s spoken “You disgust me!”  Yet shortly after, we are expected accept Tony, Sophie and Amelia seemingly reconciled.  After a play apparently presenting reality, even down to a rather clumsy sex-scene by the women in Act One, ending this way was just not possible.

I think you should not miss the music, nor the voices per se, but don’t go for the drama experience.

A FESTIVAL OF RUSSIAN BALLET

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company

Canberra Playhouse – 17-19 September

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

 

The Imperial Russian Ballet is a large Moscow-based ballet company, under the artistic directorship of Gediminas Taranda, which constantly tours the world, offering lavish productions of the most popular ballets in the classical repertoire. 

Canberra has previously seen several productions from the Imperial Russian Ballet Company. This year’s offering was a program of “the best bits” from the repertoire, plus a couple of new creations, under the title of “A Festival of Russian Ballet”.

This proved a winning recipe as the three scheduled Canberra performances were sold out prior to the arrival of the company. Of course, it may also have been due to the fact that the performances were presented in the Playhouse rather than the much larger Canberra Theatre. If so, it was a shame because in the event, the Playhouse stage proved too small for several of the items, especially the Nutcracker excerpts that opened the program.

Though entitled “The Nutcracker”, all the excerpts were from Act 11 of the ballet. The tedious first act being replaced with a voice-over explaining what went before, while an amiable Drosselmeyer (ballet-master Vitautas Taranda) strode the stage displaying a large nutcracker doll, before commanding the curtain to rise for the “Waltz of the Snowflakes” which was danced among falling snow flakes. The section featured the famous Spanish, Chinese and Russian dances, an excellent way of introducing the various soloists of the company, as well as the lovely “Waltz of the Flowers”, performed, unfortunately, in rather lumpy unflattering costumes.

Clara was danced enchantingly by Lina Seveliova, partnered by Nariman Bekzhanov. Somehow though their grand Pas de Deux didn’t generate the excitement it should have, possibly because of the limited stage space, which seemed to cramp Bekzhanov in particular, and inhibit their timing. Elsewhere, the ensemble had to compromise lines and spacing to move between positions resulting in an untidy effect. Judging from the program photographs,  the scenery for this segment also looked seriously compromised to fit into the available space. 

Lena Seveliova and Company 

Seveliova had opportunity to display her versatility later in the program when she appeared as a cheeky Kitri, partnered by the alarmingly athletic Constantine Teaci, in an excerpt from next year’s program, the full-length “Don Quixote”. She then danced the beautiful pas de deux from “Giselle”, for which she was elegantly partnered by Alexandru Balan, often giving the impression of floating ethereally above the stage. Hopefully, one day we’ll get to see her dance the full-length ballet.
 

Russian Emperial Ballet perform "Bolero"

 

The other major work on the program was a dramatic version of “Bolero” danced to the famous music of Ravel. For this ballet, both the men and women of the large ensemble, were costumed in all-over black body suits, richly trimmed in gold, over which they wore gold lame-lined black skirts. The choreography made much use of these skirts to stunning visual effect.

Descending from her position high above the rest of the dancers, Elena Colesnicenco, dressed in a figure-hugging gold body- suit, was a striking figure dancing the central role of the God Head, to Nariman Bekzhanov’s strongly realised Head Priest.



Anna Pashkova in "Ne Me Quittes Pas" 

 

A selection of divertissement made up the final act, which provided several opportunities to enjoy the work of a stunning dancer, Anna Pashkova. Her first solo, a demure and charming piece called, “Russian Dance” hinted at her strong stage presence and impressive technique. She then danced a solo entitled “Ne Me Quittes Pas” which was spoilt by the over-amplification of the familiar Jacques Brel music. However, during “The Carmen Suite”, leading the female ensemble, she dominated the stage, with her flirtatious sensuality and brilliant dancing.

Among the other soloists Denys Simon impressed with his fire-cracker “Gopak”, and ballerina, Anastasia Homitcaia contributed a beautifully realised “The Dying Swan”. However her “La Corsaire Pas De Deux” danced with Nariman Bekzhanov, failed to ignite, possibly because the lack of space appeared to upset the timing. Or perhaps it was because Bekzhanov’s bare torso revealed a distractingly obvious tattoo which seemed glaringly out of place on a tatar warrior.

The program contained two lightweight short works choreographed by Artistic Director Taranda. The first, a prettily costumed piece, “The Dance of the Horses”, inspired by the Melbourne Cup and performed to some jaunty music by Rossini, in which the dancers pranced like horses and jockeys. The other was a campy “Can Can Surprise”` which featured the female ensemble dancing Offenbach’s familiar Can Can, while the heavily tattooed Dmitrii Popov, as Dame Vitautas, cavorted with two diminutive cavaliers and the male ensemble to provide a diverting, if slightly puzzling, finale to this Festival of Russian Ballet.  

THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING

Adapted by Richard Tulloch from the novel by Guus Kuijer
Directed by Ed Wightman
Canberra REP at Theatre 3, 13 - 28 September 2013

Review by Len Power 13 September 2013

Canberra Rep’s, ‘The Book Of Everything’, is a winner in every way.  Adapted by Richard Tulloch from the novel by Guus Kuijer, it tells the story of a family in 1951 in Holland who are violently abused by their religious but well-meaning father and husband.  That sounds like a pretty heavy night at the theatre, but the story is told from the point of view of an imaginative 10 year old family member, Thomas, in his diary.  His take on what is happening around him is hilarious and ultimately uplifting.

At the centre of this production is Lachlan Ruffy who gives a remarkable performance as Thomas.  Adults playing children often seem forced and exaggerated but Lachlan Ruffy creates theatrical magic here as an utterly believable 10 year old, even though he is obviously much older.  He has great support from the rest of the cast who all give excellent performances.

Jerry Hearn is chilling as the abusive father, but the depth of his performance draws sympathy from the audience by the end of the play.  Lainie Hart plays Thomas’s mother with great warmth towards her children as well as expertly showing the terror of living with a man who can turn abusive at any moment.  Helen Vaughan-Roberts as next door neighbour, Mrs Amersfoort, is both hilarious and moving as a woman reputed to be a witch but who has Thomas’s best interests at heart.  Madeline Kennedy gives a winning performance as Thomas’s sister and Liz de Totth as their jolly aunt is especially effective at the moment she discovers the abuse that’s been hidden under her nose all along.  Tamina Koehne-Drube as Thomas’s young girlfriend is also very effective playing a sunny child tentatively approaching womanhood.  Then there’s Miles Thompson in the surprise performance of the night as Jesus Christ.  As conjured up in the mind of Thomas, this is a Jesus you won’t find in religious texts.  Miles expertly captures a child’s unique vision of Jesus and has a field day playing him.

Andrew Kay has done it again with a superb and quirky set that is functional but with a child’s imagination in its detail.  Lighting design by Chris Ellyard, sound design by Neil McRitchie and music composed by Jonathan McFeat complement the set and the play perfectly.

At the end of the opening night performance, the audience demanded a second curtain call, something I can’t recall seeing at Canberra Rep before.

Director, Ed Wightman, has created a theatrical event here.  It’s imaginative, funny, dramatic, moving and very satisfying.  This is a production you’ll remember for a very long time.  Don’t miss it.

FOOTLOOSE

 

Presented by Supa Productions

ANU Arts Centre until 28^th September 2013

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

Best known as a choreographer and dancer, Jordan Kelly, makes an impressive directorial debut with this exuberant production of “Footloose”. Kelly has managed to find warmth and relevance in a fairly lacklustre script and score, by drawing strong committed performances from his largely inexperienced cast to produce a fast-paced, energetic, occasionally moving, night in the theatre.

The rather predictable storyline concerns an outsider, Ren who finds himself attracted to the town’s bad-girl, Ariel. Ariel is coping badly with her grief over the loss of her brother, who lost his life with three other teenagers in a road accident. As a result of this accident, the town council, led by Ariel’s preacher-father, has banned dancing. But after a series of misadventures, Ren and Ariel find love together after Ren convinces Ariel’s father, and the town council, that dancing is not such a bad thing at all.

Angus Murphy and Eliza Shephard in "Footloose".

Angus Murphy and Eliza Shephard give strong, interesting performances as Ren and Ariel. Both had trouble with intonation on opening night, but, despite their relative inexperience,  both gave such confident, intelligent performances that the audience was drawn to care about their characters, so that by the time they had reached their well- staged duet on the railway bridge, any vocal deficiencies were forgiven.

No such vocal deficiencies exist among Ariel’s three vivacious friends, played by Claudia Tetrault-Percy, Kirrah Amosa and Zoe Priest, who sing their three- part harmonies with pin-point accuracy and light up the stage on every appearance.  As Ren’s socially inept side-kick, Anthony Simeonovic gives an engaging performance, displaying a talent for fancy dancing, and garnering the lion’s share of the laughs.

Tim Stiles brings a fine singing voice and welcome gravitas to the role of Ariel’s over-bearing father, Reverend Shaw Moore. His climatic conversion scene with Ren is a real highlight. Christine Forbes is well-cast as his wife, Vi, utilising her considerable experience to bring warmth and empathy to an otherwise under-written role. Maureen Read was also very effective as Ren’s mother, Ethel.

The simple, functional setting designed by Jordan Kelly and Dan Kempton works well, allowing for smooth scene transitions while leaving sufficient space for the many dance sequences, devised by choreographer, Nikole Neal which are performed with enthusiasm and confidence by the large ensemble cast.

First time Musical Director, Nicholas Griffin and his small band provide excellent musical backing while keeping the show flowing smoothly between scene changes. So good were they that they should consider some exit music to maintain the atmosphere while the audience leave the theatre.

“Footloose” may not be the best musical you’ll see this year, but there’s so much to enjoy in this high-spirited, exuberant production that it would be a pity to miss it.

Suppository of Wisdom

Shortis and Simpson
Smiths Alternative Bookshop
Season closed
Reviewed by Samara Purnell

Images by Jorian Gardner

Not only are our pollies writing our material for us, they are now giving us the titles of our shows! Moya Simpson gleefully informs us.

You can only pray for slips of the tongue like Tony Abbott’s suppository comment and so, running with that gem, Simpson with her partner-in-political-satire John Shortis presented the “Suppository of Wisdom”, delivering nuggets of humour to a sold out show at Smiths Alternative Bookshop.

The first song, of the title, was a dream for wordplay, with its description of an anus horriblus, (yes, you read that correctly), the Parliament of bowels and the anals of history. This was backed up by a Classical Latin ditty “Stimula Stimulus Stimluae”, which conjugated deficit to defecate.

All the usual suspects made their appearance over the show’s duration – Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard, the worm…But also included were observations on the names of Ministers, including that we now have two Dicks (well, perhaps more than two, Shortis pondered).

Commentary on the insanity of private media ownership delivered funny statistics about the right-wing articles in our national newspapers, with “News Very Bloody Limited”. And of course the warning to local people smugglers in the full page ads appearing not only in Metropolitan papers, but the humble Bungendore Mirror, got a mention.

As residents of Bungendore, Shortis and Simpson drew upon local inspiration such as the near-by nudist club (who knew?!) and Bungendore’s apparent reputation as a marijuana hot-spot, to offer a Jamaican-style invitation to K-Rudd to come chill out in Bungendore, post his election loss.

They elicited hearty laughs when, inspired by Abbott’s scheme to “buy all the Indonesian fishing boats” they suggested a more apt goal than the Very Fast Train, might be the Very Slow Boat (VSB).

But the show took on a sombre, thought-provoking note in “Foreign Aid Highway” about funding roads for the 21st century through foreign aid cuts.

The audience got a mental work-out keeping up with the switching of initial letters in “Learless Feaders” performed as a drunk-bloke-at-the-bar, with his take on everything. It was a clever way to get around strong language and opinions.

The show concluded with Shortis and Simpson’s take on a medley of well-known songs, “Rudd is in the Air”, “It’s not easy being Crean” “Shorten Bread” and “Blue Ties” (that lean to the right).

They performed across a variety of musical genres, including yodelling, and did an incredible job not only to write material that requires constant updates, but to memorise it, with delivery reliant on accuracy.

This was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon in a town primed for Political satire.

This review appears on the CityNews website

Footloose

Supa Productions
13 – 28 September 2013
ANU Arts Centre
Reviewed by Samara Purnell

Bomont is a town burdened by grief and banned from dancing – a law created by the local Reverend. Enter Chicago-bred Ren, struggling with his own baggage and unable to accept the rules of his new town, and you have “Footloose”, Jordan Kelly’s first foray into directing and Nicholas Griffin’s first MD role with Supa.
Angus Murphy plays Ren, challenged and captivated by the Reverend’s daughter Ariel, confidently performed and strongly sung by Eliza Shephard. Murphy’s solos were pitchy but he portrayed Ren’s sarcasm and repressed anger with warmth and gentleness making him decidedly likeable.
Tim Stiles and Christine Forbes as the Reverend and his wife added emotional depth to the show.
Ariel’s friends Rusty (Claudia Tetrault-Percy), Urleen (Kirrah Amosa) and Wendy Jo (Zoe Priest) delivered much of the comic relief – their number “Somebody’s eyes” was a highlight, creatively imagined and staged, with Amosa’s singing a standout.
Anthony Simeonovic as Rusty’s “mama-quoting” boyfriend, Willard was thoroughly entertaining. When the trio and Willard performed “Let’s hear it for the boy”, laughter and toe-tapping (from the audience) ensued.
The ensemble dance numbers hit their line-dancing bootstraps in “Still Rockin’”. Nikole Neal’s choreography was exuberantly danced across the cast but laden with laboured jazz turns. When Ariel belts out “Holding out for a hero” the choreography and movement is at its best.
Costuming was intentionally removed from being explicitly ‘80’s and appeared to cover everything from the ‘60s to contemporary dress.
Ensemble members garnered genuine laughs in this enjoyable production and it was impossible not to hum the lyrics to “Footloose” on the way home.

A version of this review appears on the CityNews website

FOOTLOOSE

Directed by Jordan Kelly
Musical Direction by Nicholas Griffin
Supa Productions at the ANU Arts Centre to 28 September 2013

Review by Len Power 14 September 2013

Supa Productions’, ‘Footloose’, based on a popular 1984 movie, is a slight 1998 Broadway show with a clichéd book, a stack of pop tunes - only a few of which are memorable - and an overlong running time.  The large, mostly young, cast of this production almost get away with it with their enthusiasm and energy, especially in the rousing finale of the show.

Anyone directing this show needs to decide how to make the thin story line playable.   This production opted to play it modern and straight and the result was a lot of tedium between musical numbers.  It might have been more fun played as a satire of the 1980s or even in a cartoon style.

Luckily, we had three very talented and appealing singers in Claudia Tetrault-Percy, Kirrah Amosa and Zoe Priest to open the show with a rousing ‘Footloose’ and continue on with ‘Somebody’s Eyes’, ‘Holding Out For A Hero’, with the excellent Eliza Shepherd and ‘Let’s Hear It For the Boy’.  Maureen Read and Christine Forbes also shone with ‘Learning To Be Silent’, again joined by Eliza Shepherd.  The full cast numbers were well sung by the company but a sound imbalance with the orchestra often drowned out the singers and made lyrics impossible to hear.  Aside from the sound imbalance, Nicholas Griffin’s orchestra played the score very well.

The costumes which were co-ordinated for the show by Emma Tatum might be modern dress but a musical should still display an overall style in its costumes.  Tim Stiles’ costume for the Reverend screamed ‘trailer trash’ rather than ‘fine, upstanding citizen’.  It was also hard to believe that the Reverend would allow his daughter, Ariel, out of the house in the sexy hotpants and skimpy top she was wearing.

The ugly set by Jordan Kelly and Dan Kempton showed no thoughtful design and added nothing to the show.

 More style in keeping with a Broadway show in the choreography by Nikole Neal rather than pointless Rock Eisteddfod steps would have been more interesting to watch and there was a noticeable variation in dance skills amongst the large cast.  The dancing often took the focus away from the lead singers, too, especially in the ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ number, where the singers virtually disappeared behind a mass of jiggling dancers.  In a Broadway musical, the dancing should complement the number, not gang up on it.

First time director, Jordan Kelly, worked with too large a cast to keep full control.  The scene in the gymnasium, for example, was a distracting melee of people shuffling around with nothing much to do.  Many of the young cast also lacked basic stagecraft.  More work needed to be done to ensure the focus of certain scenes was where it needed to be.  Emotional scenes either lacked energy or were right over the top and needed stronger direction to make them believable.

This is a difficult show to get right, given the lack-lustre material you have to start with.  Unfortunately this production was not up to Supa’s usually high standard.